Checkmate. HA! GET IT?

ITS A REFERENCE TO CHESS BECAUSE THE SABRES PLAYED THE KINGS! Oh man!
Anyway. Thomas Vanek continues to make plays, and the Sabres win at home over the Kings 4-2. Tim Connolly is still alive, and Jason Pominville had maybe his best game since coming back from injury. A look at the score sheet tells the tale. Goals from Sekera, Vanek, Connolly, and Hecht. Pominville with two assists. Connolly played seventeen minutes of hockey, and considering how he had played at the start of the year that seems like a lot. Ideally this is how long you want your number two center to play in a hockey game.

Here we see that the Sabres find themselves tied in points with three other teams for the eight spot. Good. They are now back in it. They have still played more games though, and that gap will probably widen after tonight when they play the Lightning. Hey, look who is in 6th place!

This is the lasting damage of the Sabres start. They have been on a fantastic roll so far, and it has only brought them back into the picture, even if it is only the fringe. They need to have a double streak. One streak to get back in it, and another to put themselves safely within the pack’s leaders. The question remains as to whether they can maintain their pace right now. Since November 6 the Sabres have taken 11 of a possible 14 points.

What about the teams ahead of them?

Courtesy of me

The Sabres are clearly the hottest team in that portion of the standings right now, but even just the slightest cool down could keep them right where they are. They have taken a whopping 78% of the total possible points since Nov. 6. That is a really good stretch of hockey, and it still has them to only 11th place due to games played.

Tonight we find out if they can keep up the steamroller, and taking one against the Lightning would go a long way to pulling them back into respectability.